Kristi Murakami IPDP

SY 2016 - 2017
​Professional Development Plan

Goals Describe how this goal was Proposed Learning Activities (how the Potential evidence generated Target Date
determined. change will happen) through the activity
How will it lead to improvement in
professional responsibilities?

Teachers will develop This goal is in line with our Professional Readings Teacher Pre/ Post Self-Reflection April 2017
a consistent routine school-wide initiatives and a focus
and structure to during our Data Team meetings. Discussions with colleagues that reflect Data Team Check-ins (successes,
implement a balanced on implementation and plan next challenges, changes)
literacy curriculum Developing routines and structures steps.
that utilizes various will be a foundation for meeting the Teacher reflection records
resources, focusing needs of our students. Using teacher reflections as well as (roadmapping our Balanced Literacy
primarily on close student data to guide instruction and Curriculum BLC Journey)
reading strategies. Supports the Cycle of Professional structure in the class.
Learning (CPL); Close Reading.
Peer Observations and reflections.

Reflection: To what extent did I meet my goals and what might be my next steps?
After a full year of implementing the Wonders program, we realize there was a lack of comprehension of the text. Therefore, we wanted the students to
interact more with the text through close reading strategies. As a school, we have chosen this as a focus for our PLC. Our goal is for students to use these
strategies to make connections to the text as well as develop a deeper understanding of each text they read. We planned to use these Close Reading
Strategies in other curriculum areas (Science, Social Studies, etc.)

To ensure that the skills/strategies are set in place we started using the Wonders Tier 2 comprehension strategies. As the year went on we realized the ACT
lessons also helped to support students close reading strategies. We used the ACT lessons during the second semester.

To reach our ELL students, we are collaborated with the ELL teacher to use the Wonders Tier 2 comprehension strategies in a small group setting 4 times a
week for 20 minutes.

Beyond our whole class Wonders Instruction & Close Reading Practice, we used the following for targeted skills:
● Lexia
 ● KidBiz
● Wonders Tier 2 Comprehension

Areas of Strength:
● Students are familiar with the Wonders Program compared with students last year
● Students enjoyed using the close reading symbols
● Students were struggling with extended response; however, through using close reading symbols and making them more meaningful, reading
responses have improved

Areas of Weakness:
● Students’ extended response are showing that they were not answering the question (Interpreting Questions were discovered to be a struggle for
some students)
○ Students are not reading the question carefully and following the directions
● Some students still struggle to make meaningful marks for their close reading symbols (they put a symbol, but don’t understand why they put it there)

Teaching Strategies Tried:

● Close Reading Strategies
● Review the previous week’s assessment and re-teach strategies/skills that the students continue to struggle on test taking tips: multiple choice
(crossing out answers you know are wrong or don’t make sense)
● Kidbiz: Think Alouds
● Doing Kidbiz & Thought Questions and having students use the “refer back to the article” option in kidbiz.
Backwards Planning (looking at the test to determine how I will phrase my question to the students to streamline it to the test)
● Practicing more reading responses
○ Teaching the students how to use the graphic organizers to help create their reading response answer.
● Teacher looks at the assessment and be clear on what the students need to know.
● Test Taking Tips (deleting multiple choice answers that you know are wrong or don’t make sense)

Through this learning/leadership experience… (Summarize impressions, recall supporting information, analyze learning, next steps.)
Through this learning experience I realized just how important a consistent routine is for student success. I also realized how vital it is for a
teacher to model what is expected of students. In the beginning, a lot of modeling was done in order to show students how to use the close reading
symbols. The modeling got them excited to do it and they were more prepared when they were asked to use the close reading symbols on their own.
Through lessons, I realized students were just putting symbols down and could not explain why they put it there. Through this observation, more
modeling was done to ensure that students understand close reading symbols have a purpose. Close reading symbols became a huge part of our
 lessons. During discussions, lessons with a reading passage, and even during read alouds students would openly (without being asked) share what
symbols they would use and explain why they used it.

Next Steps:
● Make more use of close reading symbols across the curriculum (Social St. and Science)
● Continue to have students using close reading symbols

* This links the goal to professional standards and data-driven (Examples: Prior EES data like Danielson Framework components (observation or working
portfolio, Core P), SLO/SSIO, Student Survey results, any other available grade/school-wide data)